UH alum to premiere film at SXSW

The world premiere of UH alum Lucas Mireles’ short film, “Love Analysis,” is tonight at the SXSW film festival. “I always thought if I could do anything, I’d love to get into SXSW,” Mireles said. | Courtesy of Lucas Mireles

UH alum Lucas Mireles will have the world premiere of his short film, “Love Analysis,” this weekend at South by Southwest. Mireles describes the one minute long short film as a punch line and joked that the trailer was longer than the actual film.

The entire film was shot 3 times in one afternoon using 3 different films. It was originally shot as a research project for one of his classes, but Mireles said that he always took it seriously.

“Going into the film, I thought, I’m going to do everything I can to make it as good as I can,” Mireles said. And now that the short film is premiering at the festival, he believes that his hard work has paid off.

Mireles is no stranger to film festivals. “Hijo de mi madre,” his first feature length drama, had its world premier this year at the Slamdance film festival. He was also a co-host at Sundance for the 20th anniversary of SLACKER.

However, “Love Analysis” is the first film Mireles has been able to get into SXSW. Mireles said that this makes him a “SXSW virgin.”

“Getting into SXSW was amazing.” Mireles said. “Growing up in Texas, I always thought that if I could do anything, I’d love to get into SXSW.”

Mireles received his BA in media production from UH in 2006 and his MA in communication studies from the University in 2010. He is now a student in UCLA’s MFA directing program.

Mireles said that he fell in love with the cinema as a child when his father would check him out of class so they could watch movies together. But it was not until Mireles took a digital cinematography class at UH that he discovered that he had more than a trifling interest in film. He credits this class with igniting a passion in him for the movie making progress and giving him some valuable hands on training.

In addition to the other films Mireles has written and directed, he also has a film currently in post-production called “Range Junkies,” a piece he describes as “a love story on a gun range.”

Mireles said that in the future he wants to continue to be involved in multiple aspects of the filmmaking process as both a writer and director.